Such a honing wheel is used for precision machining of gear wheel-shaped workpieces. In the case of traditional honing wheels with internal gearing, the outer peripheral surface is cylindrical. The diameter of this cylindrical surface, which is concentric with the axis of rotation of the honing wheel, is slightly smaller than that of the cylindrical opening of the corresponding tool head. The honing wheel may be inserted with a push fit into the opening in the tool head and connected to it in a rotationally fixed manner by tension rings or the like. To guarantee true running of the honing wheel, the least possible clearance in the cylindrical opening of the tool head is desired.
When installing the honing wheel into the tool head and in particular when removing the honing wheel from the tool head, a slight tilting of the honing wheel, i.e., an angular deviation of the axes of the honing wheel and the tool head, is practically unavoidable. Therefore, there is the risk of the honing wheel becoming tilted in the tool head and being blocked against axial displacement. In such a case, it is possible to remove the honing wheel only by striking its rear side with a rubber mallet. However, due to the increased edge pressure of the tilted honing wheel, this may damage the inside surface of the tool head. If the operator attempts to install or remove the honing wheel by hand, there is also the risk of injury to the person due to the sharp edges of the internal gearing of the honing wheel.
To avoid these disadvantages, it is also known that the exterior peripheral surface of the honing wheel may be provided with an annular groove for an O-ring made of an elastic material. This measure makes it possible to increase the annular gap between the honing wheel and the opening in the tool head, because the deformable O-ring assumes the centering function. Experience has shown that the risk of tilting can only be reduced, but not ruled out entirely, by this measure. This is due to the poor guidance of the honing wheel, because the width of the honing wheel amounts to approximately only one-tenth of its diameter. To facilitate installation and removal of the honing wheel, there has already been a proposal for a radially subdivided tool head in which the diameter of the cylindrical opening is variable. Although this measure can prevent tilting of the honing wheel, this advantage is gained at the expense of a considerable structural complexity for the required chucking device.
The object of this invention is to create a generic honing wheel having internal gearing in which tilting during installation and removal is prevented by a simple design measure.